Right in the mix

Comments (86)

Barrie Vesty (Liverpool fan) says...

Spot on Jamie....I have had a really good feeling about this year. That feeling got 10 times better when unfortunate as it is Rio got injured and Gerrard became captain.... Stevie will never say die in this tournament and with his mate Carra at CB alongside JT I dont see any teams scoring many past us. Player of the tournament for me Aaron Lennon I think he is our X factor and whenever he gets the ball full backs need to change underwear. Disagree with our top scorer though have a feeling the 6ft 7 beanpole will score for fun in this tournament...I barring injuries believe Cappello has his first 11 on paper for group stages then knock out stage. Our mix is good, I also think David James is the best keeper if shots come from 20-30yds as he is flappable on corners but deffinately a shot stopper....nervous,anxious and waiting...come on England...

Posted 04:14 6th June 2010

Matty Hawkins (AC Milan fan) says...

To be fair, we have absolutely no chance of even making the quarters, never mind winning it. It's the same story every time, needing 'belief' in the squad for them to perform well, needing all our players to turn up on the day to have a chance of beating petty teams, all that general nonsense. There's so much talk that goes on where England are concerned, it's so irrelevant, hell, just get the team on the pitch to do the talking if we're actually that good. Reminds me of Andy Murray and all the hype we get around him at a Grand Slam, which inevitably leads to absolutely nothing. You look at Spain, Argentina, Holland; these geezers couldn't care less if people 'believed' in them, they don't need 8-9 quality players to put on a show to beat the likes of the USA, they've just got pure talent throughout, only needing 2 or 3 of their best players to put in a decent performance to beat anyone. As for the likes of 'these boys are right in the mix', please. Lampard and Gerrard on par with Lionel Messi, the Messiah? You've gotta be kidding me. You know you've got problems when the second best striker you can pose is Emile Heskey. Argentina meanwhile have Milito as a benchwarmer. Ok ok, I'll give us a chance with our strongest asset, midfield; Lampard, Gerrard, Milner, Barry. Spain's midfield; Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets. In other words, when we come across a quality team like the Spaniards who can actually play football, we're gonna get slaughtered. I genuinely despise how we play football, it's like all EPL teams, park the bus, grind out a 1-0 or 2-0. The sooner we learn just how poor we are at football, the better. Spain to win it.

Posted 02:37 6th June 2010

Adam Mackley (Manchester United fan) says...

Dina Mesa (Manchester United fan) says...

Someone should should tell jamie redknapp that many of the England players in the squad are the same that embarassed the country in 2006 in Germany and failed to qualify for Euro 2008 - not to mention they're all a few years older!
It's all good to say that we have a "great" team ( really? ) but we've heard the same thing before every major tournament since 1966!!!
and to compare frank lampard and steven gerrard to Lionel Messi is laughable - even by redjnapp's standard...

Posted 01:44 6th June 2010

Mohmmed Khan (Arsenal fan) says...

To win the world cup,you need to beat the best team in the world,such as spain,brazil,argentina,germany,italy,holland, france,etc.England didnt win world cup when they had better players in 90's,such as gaza,waddle,adams,lineker,platt,and others,i think with luck,they can go till quarter final.There are plenty of mind games,such as great players as pele,messi, etc saying England are one of the favourites to win world cup 2010,then what happen afterwards is that the players get too flatterred and hypes,fans have big hopes,but end results is failures,with comments such as,we will be back next time.its a shame that there is no ENGLISHMAN MANAGER who can manage the National team,meaning we need foreign person to teach us how to play football when ENGLISH CREATED THE GAME and now We lost The PLOTS and Fogot how and what it takes to win big tournaments.Rednap got no clue at all by saying ENGLAND will go all the way.He works as Sky sport and newspapers correspondant,so its his duties to talk positively in favour of England or he will lose his jobs.
Be realistic,and please accept it that ENGLAND Got no chance to win world cup.
GERARD,LAMPARD,CARRICKJAMES,DEFOE,HESKEY HAS BEEN USELESS AND ARE STILL USELESS FOR ENGLAND COMPARED TO CLUB PERFORMANCE.

Posted 01:30 6th June 2010

Tommy Laughton (Liverpool fan) says...

Usual rubbish from Bill Smith who hasn't took his man u glasses off again . It's a shame for Rio but that's the way it can be if you're not fully fit to start with which he wasn't. We've got the talented players to really have a go but like Jamie says we also need a little luck and you never know. As for Bill Smith , hope you've taken your glasses off in time and supporting EVERY player in the England shirt

Posted 22:10 5th June 2010

Dave ... (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

you get cheap messages from the likes of Jonathan Sadler who is an arsenal fan saying england have no chance. the only reason your saying this is because england have no arsenal players in the squad!
this is england's best chance to win the world cup with the current team as most of them will be too old in 4 years time. we have world class players in every position but capello needs to get the players playing as a squad instead of individuals for us to succeed

Posted 22:07 5th June 2010

Kevin Super (Celtic fan) says...

I think England will be unlucky yet again, this time i think they will reach the semi's, and i come to this conclusion when i look at the England squad. None of the goalkeepers are exactly world class they aint even the best in the EPL. Defencively it has been well publised about JT,s form this season and King is always an injury worry and the same as the goalkeepers the english defenders aint even the best in the english league, Midfield i think is England's strongest area and could hold there own with any team in the world and finally up front Rooney is playing really well for his club and i hope he stays fit as i cant see to many goals coming from the other strikers.
When i look around at other squads id say Spain have the strongest squad, but my 4 to reach the semi's are Spain,England,Argentina,Germany.

Posted 21:36 5th June 2010

I love Redknapp (Manchester United fan) says...

Jamie what a lad great column i look forward to reading it during the world cup.

Posted 21:23 5th June 2010

Stephen Duncan (Liverpool fan) says...

bill smith,come on,lamps is a great player,we have a great chance,as for stevie g you would love him at your club,is worst season for years and still scored more goals than anyone in your team other than rooney,your mid field coudnt even lace is boots,as for england we do have a chance,+50 goals from midfield,+50 goals up front,not bad,so back england all the way with a bit of luck

Posted 21:14 5th June 2010

Simon Varley (Preston North End fan) says...

I think Lampard is not in the same class as Messi and neither is Gerard, however our overall team strength and diversity makes us real contenders. The opposition will have problems defending high balls as well as good passing through the center of the park. If we can get our defence and keeper confident enough to not concede, our team will always score goals on whomever they come across.

Posted 19:49 5th June 2010

Martin Mcgough (Sunderland fan) says...

Im all with us supporting England through thick and thin, but common sense has to come into play. We not going to win the world cup. We have been letting in sloppy goals for ages, half the time some of the players cannot be bothered. It took 2 own goals to beat Japan and if we were playing like that against a better team like Brazil we would of got hammered. Our best chance of winning it was years ago when we had Beckham, Scholes, Shearer, Owen etc..., I'm not saying it can't be done but to do it those lads have got to show why they on 100,000 grand a week and give 150% every game and be on top form.

Posted 19:45 5th June 2010

Sean Sheil (Liverpool fan) says...

Jamie you can understand Darren Bent not being in the squad because "a striker is judged on goals" and "goals are all he has to offer" even though Heskey is under no pressure because nobody expects him to score. That's utter rubbish mate. Stop waffling on just to fill your blog space.

Posted 19:33 5th June 2010

Dakshesh Patel (Arsenal fan) says...

if my memory serves me correct, the golden generation or the star players of the world were with holland and brazil in 98, kluivert, bergkamp, davids, de boers, seedorf. with brazil - ronaldo, bebeto, dunga, cafu, carlos. The leaders in football at the time, and players all round the team. Arg as well had the golden generation at this time - batistuta, c lopez, zanetti, crespo, ortega. These guys were the favourites really, and one of these teams on paper would have lifted it (bar the ronaldo mystery for eg). In 2002 brazil again had the golden gen- rivaldo,ronaldo,ronaldinho-need i say more?france on the back of two competetions were also there-barthez,henry,zidane,lizarazu,vieira,trez etc i think in 2006, there wasnt a team with world class all around the squad- portugal if anything were the ones to watch- figo,rui costa, deco, carvalho, and the obvious one c ronaldo. england were never had the golden generation as such. in 98 we were well balanced, adams, shearer, beckham, owen. but by 2002 we were depending on becks and owen 2006 also wasnt exactly a squad with players like the ones i mentioned before. But you can safely say, that this year is our golden generation of players, terry, a cole, j cole, gerrard, lampard, rooney, lennon. These players are key players for their sides in premiership. Spain apart there isnt another team with world class all over the pitch. (you may argue argentina - but you cant play 8 strikers up front, and their manager has a mc claren-esque vibe about him. i think theyl be lucky to make it to second round and no further!) This is our golden generation. teams should be very wary when they face us. And with our qualifying campaign, and our friendly results, we really look like one of those stand out world cup teams who really look like they can do it. COME ON ENGLAND

Posted 19:00 5th June 2010

David Hughes (Manchester United fan) says...

No designated reliable number one, captain injured, dodgy full back, uncertain midfield line-up and Emile Heskey is in the squad!? Englnad fans could be forgiven for not being full of optimism, semi-finals at best and that would be a good achievement.

Posted 17:42 5th June 2010

Adam Whiteley (Newcastle United fan) says...

i saw sky sports news yesterday, and i second what james cordon says, if man u beat a team in the last min, or chelsea come up with the goods late on, but dont play well the whole game, the media and public say its a sign of a great team, great teams are those that hang in there and win no matter what, yet when england do it, by not playing to there potential, they are completely ridiculed by the very same people, why? i just dont get why people are so fickle. england have a great chance, like anyone els out there.

Posted 16:32 5th June 2010

Paul Collins (Arsenal fan) says...

capello is brave dropping walcott considering hes done more for england in his 2 or 3 years than gerrard or lampard have done in 10 years for england

Posted 13:43 5th June 2010

Niall Byrne (Liverpool fan) says...

I think in a way Jamie has a point that usually when an England team goes in to a major tournament they are playing really well beating top teams in friendlies and expectations a very high.This time however they are not in good form and have struggled to beat average countries in warm up games so maybe that can work in their favour.Lets face it if they had beat Mexico and Japan 6-0 the English Media would have had a field day in the two weeks leading up to the big k.o. hyping up England's chances, as there is no media like the English media for building up the national teams chances before a ball is kicked.So maybe with the pressure off its the best chance they have had in a long time but having said all that the really great teams like Brazil and Argentina live with the pressure of expectation before every world cup but it doesn't stop them doing the business.I don't think you need a team full of world class players you just need a manager who can organise his team to be hard to beat and make his players play to their strenghts,as Greece showed 6 years ago if that happens anything is possible....

Posted 13:36 5th June 2010

Charles Impey (Manchester United fan) says...

Redknapp has a great view on it. If lampard and gerrard are on form which i think they can be. what better motivation than the world cup. I think inexperienced players will write the show like ledley and dawson and i think the big teams will struggle especially argentina with their frail back line. Overall all our players are professional athletes playing at the top level and they are just as capable of beating any other nations!
Either way we got to believe!

Posted 13:11 5th June 2010

Dean Smith (Manchester United fan) says...

Bill Smith! That is crazy! I know your a man utd fan and all, but so am I, and i am realistic enough to know that half of Frank Lampards goals are not penalties or as result of deflections- he scores many great goals, and i do admit this begruidingly. And the fact your talking about how poor the liverpool captain is? Well not suprised. And poor defence/gk? We have 3 very solid if not great goalkeepers. The left back second to only Patrice Evra (might be bias but genuinally believe it), Terry who is top class, King who is amazing on his day, and a very good attacking right back in Johnson. Your crazy man.